This present disclosure relates generally to medical devices and methods of using the same, and more particularly, to an endovascular prosthesis delivery device and methods for placement and deployment of the prosthesis in the lumen of a vessel.
The use of delivery devices or introducers employing catheters are used for a variety of medical procedures, including procedures for establishing, re-establishing or maintaining passages, cavities or lumens in vessels, organs or ducts in human and veterinary patients, occlusion of such vessels, delivering medical treatments, and other interventions. For these procedures, an implantable medical device is delivered by means of a catheter, often intraluminally. For example, a stent, stent-graft, vena cava filter or occlusion device may be delivered intraluminally from the femoral artery, via a transapical approach and/or using other acceptable delivery locations and methods for deployment of the prosthesis.
For procedures in which a prosthesis or other medical device is implanted into a patient, the prosthesis is normally held on a carrier catheter or cannula of the introducer in a compressed state and then released from the cannula so as to expand to its normal operating state. In many devices, the steps to carry out the implantation may occur, for example, first by retracting an outer sheath away from the loaded prosthesis to allow for its expansion, and then performing further steps, for example, to release one or both ends of the prosthesis, deploy an anchoring stent, or the like. The prosthesis which is to be implanted within a patient's vasculature by the delivery device may vary depending on various factors including the procedure being performed and the portion of the vasculature being treated. Because there is an increasing complexity and variety of vascular anatomies targeted for treatment, there is a need for improved delivery devices and methods.